East Hampton Schools, May 16

East Hampton High SchoolNewsweek Magazine has ranked East Hampton High School as one of the 2,000 best public high schools in the United States. East Hampton came in at #1560, with an 89 percent graduation rate and 83 percent continuing on to college.

On Wednesday, May 8, the East Hampton Public Library held their fourth annual teen video contest. Sage Gibbons’s video “Dewey Comes Alive” won first place. There was a tie for second place between Miles Todaro’s “Stand in Your Library” and Dennis Lynch’s “If I Lose Myself.” The videos will be available on the Library’s YouTube account by typing “East Hampton Public Library Teen” into the search box.

In other news of Jeremy Quitko’s video students, Sage Gibbons, Yori Johnson, and Jack Bistrian’s video “Jammin’ Jacket” was selected for the Suffolk County Film Commission’s First Exposure Film Festival. There will be a screening of all the winning videos at the Cinema Art Center at 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, on Sunday, May 19, at 4 p.m. A link to the video can also be found on YouTube. And on Monday, May 20, the public is invited at 6:30 p.m. to the high school auditorium for this year’s eighth annual Quitko Video Awards.

On Thursday, May 9, the school hosted the 11th annual Personal Best Awards breakfast. Thirty students from the freshman class were honored with this award at a breakfast held in their honor.

Teachers and faculty were asked to nominate one student whom they felt has shown their Personal Best throughout their ninth grade year. These students have set an example for their peers, demonstrated a high level of respect both in and out of the classroom, have a positive attitude, are highly motivated, hard working, and an overall asset to their classes.

The All-School Awards will be presented at a ceremony on Wednesday, May 15, at 7 p.m. And the following Tuesday, May 21, the same day as the budget vote and board elections, the Century Club will hold its annual dinner to induct new members who have performed more than 100 hours of community service.

The spring concert will be held on May 23 in the high school auditorium. In addition to high school students, past graduates who have performed Stephen Hatfield’s “All Too Soon” in the past 17 years have been invited to perform. “The response has been something else,” Mr. Douglas said. “I’m trying to figure out how to fit everyone on stage!” The show begins at 7 p.m.East Hampton Middle SchoolOn Friday, May 3, the Bonnettes, the school’s all-girls select choir, performed at Lincoln Center. The Bonnettes, under the direction of chorus teacher Melanie Mesiano, was invited to be part of the Young Music Makers Series. “The group worked hard, rehearsing many hours after school in order to give a memorable performance, which they did!” said Ms. Mesiano.

On Thursday, May 23, the PTA and middle school are co-sponsoring a movie night featuring the documentary film “Bully,” beginning at 7 p.m. “It’s a wonderful piece of documentary art that’s hard-hitting, powerful and profoundly sad,” said Principal Charles Soriano. Dr. Soriano believes the film would be suitable for most seventh- and eighth-graders, accompanied by a parent or guardian, and possibly sixth-graders, but acknowledges to parents, “You know your child best.”John M. Marshall Elementary SchoolHow does your garden grow? Project MOST students are answering that question with Jeff Negron, thanks to a grant from the Josh Levine Memorial Fund, which will assist the school in establishing a garden project in the courtyard.

Wainscott third-graders will visit the school on Thursday, May 16, to meet teachers and classmates they will join next fall.

The BOGO (buy one, get one free) PTA book fair begins at the school on Monday, May 20, and runs through Friday, May 24. Parent volunteers are still needed if anyone would like to spend a few hours there.

Tuesday, May 21, kicks off a week of field trips, with various grades visiting the East Hampton Library, the one-room schoolhouse, the South Fork Museum, and a visit last week to the Old Bethpage Living Museum. “Field trips fall into the theory of experiential education, made famous by John Dewey, who said, ‘Education is life itself,’” Principal Gina Kraus explained in the weekly newsletter. “These trips can inspire students to be more excited about the learning process.”

The fifth grade will be joining the middle school in the Bonac on Board to Wellness 5K, which begins at 9 a.m. in the Reutershan parking lot on Wednesday, May 22. Afterward, the fifth-graders will enjoy a day at Main Beach, with lunch provided by the PTA, and games provided by East Hampton Ocean Rescue.

John Marshall’s thespians will take the stage at the middle school on Wednesday, May 22, at 7 p.m., and again on Thursday, May 23, at 9 a.m. to perform Disney’s “Cinderella Kids.”